The Children and Young People’s Committee agreed to the phasing out of DCATCH which will save £176,000 by 2020/21. This decision will mean that:

(1) The service will remain closed to new applicants and withdrawn in its entirety by the end of March 2021.

(2) Parents / carers in receipt of DCATCH via a direct payment having the service withdrawn from the end of March 2020.

(3) Parents/carers in receipt of DCATCH from a commissioned provider service will see their contribution rise from £3.50 to £7.50 per hour from 1 April 2020 until the withdrawal of the service at the end of March 2021.

Local authorities are not statutorily obliged to provide DCATCH services, and since March2011, the Council has been funding DCATCH at its own discretion.

The County Council recognises this decision will directly impact on the small number of families currently being supported with DCATCH funding. There are a number of alternative sources of funding available to parents / carers to support the cost of child care, including additional benefits for the parents/carers of disabled children/young people to help meet the higher cost of living experienced by them:

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